radio inspector. he joined the navy in 1951. he made the jump to a civilian job in the small business program. he's been there ever since. she now the associate director of small business at naval sea systems command. we asked him if he thought he'd ever reach this milestone. >> no, no, absolutely not. >> but we're all glad you did. >> we didn't forward to it any more than i'm looking forward to 110. >> he is a dedicated hard worker. he had a heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery last year. he was back in the office two months later and he says he has no plans of retiring. >> oh, look at that. >> making the rest of us look lazy. >> i know, talk about a work ethic. >> congratulations. thank you for your service. stay with us. news4 today continues right now at 5:00 a.m. the old dominion is back in

the spotlight as mitt romney and president obama try to sway voters today in the critical battleground state. plus, trying to avoid a repeat of the monday night mess, the deal that gets the nfl's referees back on the field. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. we're waking up to some rain, but it was nothing like last night. this was the view from chopper 4 as thunderstorms moved through part of our region last night. we're going to find out whether or not we're going to have any more storms today. >> somehow i sleep through this stuff completely. >> that's what i was going to say. >> you said whoo like you definitely meant it. >> i had no clue. other than the fact that you told me yesterday. >> i showed you cooper in the closet. >> doesn't quite amount to lightning, but okay. calmer today maybe? >> a little calmer today. for most of the day it's going to be calm. but out there this morning, we've got the big puddles, the small puddles. some areas don't have any puddles at all. adams morgan at 67.

we've got 65 in springfield, and potomac, virginia, right now coming in at 65 degrees. let's take a look at storm team 4 radar, where it is wet. you see that rain sliding eastward. there's where it is heavier. some areas getting some lightning just east of westminster, sliding toward northeastern maryland. here's a look at your hour by hour forecast. by 8:00 a.m., we're dry. noontime, we're dry. temperatures push into the low 80s again today. our best chance of rain will be after i think 5:00 p.m. i'll be back in ten minutes with a look at your four-day forecast. >> break news traveling university boulevard. i'm still seeing all of your lanes blocked at dennis avenue. what this means is if you're traveling university boulevard, just going to be a tough commute if you're trying to get to

colesville road. and then also university boulevard as you're making your way towards georgia avenue. it's not going to be an option if you have to pass dennis avenue. no word yet on if this is going to last through the morning rush. i can tell you it may. again, a downed pole is block all of university boulevard at dennis avenue. let's head over right now to i-66. things look good there. a live look at you make your way past chain bridge road. no issues outside the beltway, i-66. inside is clear as well. nice commute, no issues to report right now. i'm back in ten with another look at traffic. breaking news. the nfl referee lockout is finally over. the league and referees union reached a tentative agreement on a new contract. tony is live at the news desk. >> reporter: late last night, the nfl and the referees association agreed toon eight-year collective bargaining agreement. the longest in nfl history. starting tonight in baltimore,

replacement refs will no longer officiate nfl games. roger goodell temporarily lifted the lockout but officials will still meet on friday and saturday to vote on the agreement. goodell had this to say about ending the lockout. "this agreement supports long-term reforms that will make officiating better. the teams, players and fans want and deserve both consistency and quality in officiating." the eight-year term will cover the referees through the 2019 nfl season. virginia will take center stage again today in the race for the white house. both candidates will be campaigning in the commonwealth. mitt romney will be in springfield at american legion post 176. president obama is holding a rally in virginia beach today. both candidates' running mates have been stumping for votes in virginia as well. vice president joe biden was in chesterfield county on tuesday.

republican nominee paul ryan made two stops in the commonwealth last week. both candidates were in ohio yesterday. president obama spoke at two colleges, kent state and bowling green. mitt romney held the town hall meeting to discuss manufacturing jobs in the cleveland area. >> and the president wants more jobs. he's going to talk about wanting more jobs. but what he has done has made it harder for entrepreneurs and businesses to make a decision to create more jobs. that's why we need to take a different direction. >> so i'm looking forward to working with republicans to reduce our deficit, but i refuse to ask middle class families to give up their deductions for owning a home or raising their kids just to pay for another millionaire's tax cut. we're notoing to do that. >> mitt romney seems to have a lot of ground to make up in ohio. he trails the president by ten points in a new poll of ohio voters. we're learning about a frightening incident that took place while the president was campaigning in ohio earlier this month. federal agents detained a man

whom they say ran through a roadblock while carrying several weapons. the incident happened in covington, kentucky. his motorcade passed through on the way to cincinnati. the government says the man in custody has a lengthy criminal record and had been declared mentally nil the past. montgomery county police investigating a shooting in gaithersburg. chopper 4 flew above the scene. the shooting happened about 10:00. police say the man was shot several times, then walked to a nearby cvs and collapsed. at last check, the victim was still in the hospital. so far, no arrests have been made. three men are expected in court later today accused of attacking and robbing a man in eastern market last month. police arrested the men yesterday with the brutal beating of thomas maslin. they reportedly robbed him for his iphone and other items. he suffered serious brain injuries and is still in the hospital. investigators say they arrested these same men for robbing three other people of their phones later that night.

>> from some very good tips from our community, from a lot of hard work, from our detectives that are standing here behind me, to now place under arrest and charge those same three subjects from the robbery on 18th street that same night with the armed robbery of mr. maslin. >> police tell news4 surveillance video may have helped crack the case. the video appears to show the suspects using his credit card after the attack. this morning, more than 1,000 pepco workers are close to going on strike. union workers cheered after an overwhelming majority to reject the latest contract offer. if no deal is reached, workers will vote on whether to strike. pepco issued a statement saying they were disappointed with the union's decision to reject the offer. the labor battle comes as pepco got the go ahead for a rate hike. it could mean an extra $2.67 a

month for the average residential customer. anger over an anti-islam film is sparking a new round of protests at a u.s. embassy. also ahead, in the middle of the violence, cameras rolling the moment a suicide bomber strikes. why this driveway may hold the answers to one of the biggest mysteries in american history. we'll look at what you can expect when you head out the door nex

get ready for some cuteness after the sad news this week from the national zoo. it is worth remembering that the panda breeding program is having some success. eight cubs were born in captivity in china last year. now they're enjoying their new playground at the giant panda research center. aren't they adorable? >> yes. >> the equipment and toys were designed to keep the pandas motivated and teach them independence. keepers give the pandas treats to encourage them to use the playground. i just want to take one home with me! >> can't do that. >> i know. look at his little legs! they don't look real. >> they don't. i'm with you on that. >> they're so cute, they don't look real. >> and there are far fewer in the world that you think. like in the hundreds. very small number. good that they're havg success with these programs.

it is 5:11 now on this thursday morning. i almost said tuesday. had to think about that for a second. it is thursday. the weekend is drawing closer. 67 warm degrees outside our studios. veronica, what about everywhere else? >> everywhere else, it's warm, too, but it's a little wet in some spots. just look at the radar. you can see that rain sliding right north of us. some thunderstorms now north of columbia, maryland, but those are moving away. some showers that are sliding north of areas like loudoun county. temperatures are in the low 60s right now. we'll get on up to 63 and top out in the low 80s today. look at that. another warm one. danel danella? >> right now i'm tracking breaking news on the roadway for you. if you're traveling university boulevard at dennis avenue, your lanes are blocked because of a down pole. here's a look right now. our live camera is on the scene. it looks like westbound university boulevard is open,

but eastbound police are blocking your lanes. again, a downed pole. as i look closer, this looks to be where the pole is, and this is just getting our first view of the downed pole along university boulevard. so if you're making this trip today, please be aware of that. again, all your lanes are blocked. you can see crews are working to fix the problem. let's check out other roads in our area. if you're traveling along the dulles toll road, things look good for you. to the beltway, heading to the interchange in both directions, no issues to report there. the unusual incident mid flight that forced some pilots to turn their flight around. chocolate lovers rejoice. the reason you should take time

witness to the violence

we want to show you some video from syrian state tv. you just saw there o of two deadly explosions in damascus about ten minutes apart. here's another. four military guards were killed. 14 other people wounded in the attacks. the blast from the suicide bombers were reportedly aimed at the military command center. nbc news cannot verify the authenticity of this video. demonstrators held a peaceful rally outside the u.s. embassy in bangkok today. this was the second protest in two weeks against an anti-islam film produced in the u.s. the film angered many muslims with its depiction of the prophet muhammad. police surrounded protesters as they held up signs. protesters said they want the u.s. government to punish the film maker. it is one of america's great

unsolved mysteries. where is the body of jimmy hoffa? a tip has led the fbi to eastern michigan in hopes of finding the former teamster's president. a man in the town of rosille says he saw other men bury a body just hours after hoffa went missing in 1975. hoffa was last seen meeting with two suspected mafia members at a detroit restaurant. police say they are taking the tip seriously, but they don't expect to actually find hoffa's body. >> we believe he's credible enough that he believes what he saw, that something took place that day out of the ordinary. we do not believe it's jimmy hoffa. we are not making that assumption. the timeline doesn't exactly add um to be mr. hoffa. >> there are conspiracy theories on where hoffa is buried, including beneath giants stadium in new jersey or even the ground of the white house. the university of california has settled with 21 students who were pepper sprayed while protesting as part of the occupy movement. this video was from last

november when campus police doused the students with pepper spray while they were peacefully protesting. the school has agreed to pay each student about $30,000 as part of the settlement. they will work with civil liberties unions as well. police in colorado now have permission to collect a palm print and dna from the suspected gunmen in the movie theater attacks. james holmes is charged with 152 counts for the july shooting that killed 12 and wounded 58 others. prosecutors argued they needed the palm print to compare it with one found inside the theater. lawyers said a dna sample will also help in their investigation. for the second time in a week, an argument between flight attendants delays a flight. this time a united airlines pilot returned to raleigh, north carolina, when two employees got into some sort of a tiff. the captain actually asked for cops to mee the plane at the gate. nobody got hurt and there were no arrests, but this incident did cause a three-hour delay. just last week, an argument between two flight attendants

caused a four-hour delay on a flight from jfk here to washington. the perjury trial against former penn state administrators accused of lying the a grand jury will start in january. a judge rejected a bid to dismiss the charges against tim curley and gary schultz yesterday. the judge did not rule on another issue. curley and schultz say the statute of limitations expired on charges of failing to properly report suspected child abuse. jerry sandusky was convicted in june on charges he sexually abused ten boys, some on campus. he'll be sentenced next month. a johns hopkins employee has apologized for sending insensitive tweets to the ravens' torrey smith. katy moody issued a formal apology saying she regrets her "tasteless and completely inappropriate comment. she fired off two tweets. smith's brother died in a motorcycle accident. johns hopkins officials say they received hundreds of e-mails

about the tweets and that moody's comments were made from a personal account. the baltimore ravens will offer free skin cancer screenings. dermatologists will perform screening tests from 4:00 until 8:00 this evening before the game. the screenings are part of an initiative with the national awareness campaign melanoma exposed. melanoma is the most common form of skin cancer. maryland ranks 11th in the country for incident lels of that disease. a new breakthrough treatment for acne may already been living on your screen. scientists have pinpointed a virus that naturally seeks out and kills pimple-causing bacteria. the harmless virus already lives on our skin. scientists hope to use this research to develop a topical cream to fight acne. you may want to grab a little bit of chocolate on your way out the door this morning. eating chocolate could make you smarter. researchers in canada tasted a

flavanoid that helps snails remember a simple activity in lab experiments. it does add to a growing body of evidence that chocolate, especially dark chocolate, may be considered a super food. something i've said all along. i don't need any reason to eat chocolate. >> i'm going to go with that. it's brain food. >> i'm going with that, too. >> the brain is only so big. how much chocolate do you have to eat? >> i eat a lot of chocolate. >> you might just eat enough. let's go to veronica and look at the forecast. >> out there right now, hey, it's another mild day for us. in fact, if you leave your chocolate in the car today, it's going to melt because we're going to be getting another warm day across the area. temperatures currently are in the 60s. low 60s, upper 60s d.c. to annapolis. an th annen dale coming in at 69 degrees.

63 degrees up north in bethesda. we are talking about some rain, a few showers that will be making their way in. the heavier rains and some thunderstorms heading out, but you can see from hagerstown over toward areas around frostburg, some more showers will be sliding in. this around areas of 795 up north in baltimore. there's been some lightning with that. but what will be coming into our area up until about 7:00 a.m., just some showers for us. and then we're back to some rain activity. showers and storms after about 5:00, 6:00 p.m. today, so i don't think it will interfere with any of the practices at middle school, high school going on, but we are talking about some more showers and storms coming into our area today and for the afternoon tomorrow. here's a look at the forecast for today. this afternoon, a 30% chance of showers. some isolated storms. as temperatures once again top out in the upper 70s to low 80s. the weekend right now, just a chance of showers late sunday.

we'll have an update on break news we've been tracking all morning long. university boulevard at dennis avenue. here's a live look. what's happening is a downed pole is still there, but you are able to get by using the eastbound lanes. westbound still blocked at this time. it looks like eastbound is open, university boulevard as you're making your commute this morning. over to the roadways, if you're traveling along 395, things look good here. 395 traveling north and southbound, you're clear. heading to the 14th street bridge, nice commute as you head into the district. 57 miles per hour, that's looking great. that drive taking 12 minutes. i'm also checking the rails. not seeing any reported delays along the metro, the mark, or the vre. back over to you. >> parents in maryland, listen up. a new law is about to take effect that could impact how long your kids must ride in a car seat. children under the age of eight who weigh more than 65 pounds will now have to ride in a safety seat.

the new law removes an exemption applied to certain kids. the new law takes effect monday. new research shows a number record number of american households have student loan debt. a new report by pew research foundation says one in five, or 19% of households, are in student loan debt. that sup 15% from 2007. it's the biggest three-year increase in student loan debt in more than 20 years. pew credits the increase to higher tuition costs and the recession. the nationals are even closer to winning their division. >> harper will hit this ball to left-center. it is carrying. see you later. 2-0 nationals. >> they beat the phillies 8-4 last night thanks in part to bryce harper's 20th home run of the season. the nats' magic number is now four. they couldn't build upon their first place lead, though, because the braves also won last

night. >> this next story might sound a little fishy, but it's all true. fishermen in idaho caught a fish with a human finger in its belly. the fishermen caught that fish and they were cleaning it out when they spotted that digit. they took it to police and they started fishing through their records. looking for someone who lost a finger. turns out there was. a man named hans -- hands? fingers. he lost his fingers in a wake boarding accident two months ago. >> i pulled my hand out of the water and i just see, you know, carnage. i ripped off my fingers all. i was like i can't believe i did that, you know? i just assumed they're going to be fish food. >> i guess he was right. police offered him his finger back. >> what? why? what? >> he says he doesn't know what he would do with a 2-month-old dead finger. >> i mean, for memories? >> i say stick it back in the

fish. why not? >> bizarre. all right. coming up, reaching out to voters in virginia where mitt romney and president obama will be campaigning in the commonwealth. breathe easy, football fans. the nfl is bringing back the regular refs. some strong storms moving through the region. right now a look

and now, from washington's ading news station, this is news4 today. looking at the stories making headlines. the nfl's regular referees will be back on the field tonight after striking a deal with the league. three men are expected in court today accused of attacking and robbing a man in eastern market. president obama and mitt romney will be making campaign stops in virginia today, trying to sway undecided voters in a key battleground state. we'll have much more on those stories throughout the morning. good morning to you. welcome back to news4 today on this thursday, september 27th, as we take a live look outside, dealing with some warmer temperatures this morning and a few showers for some folks. veronica johnson is telling us today. >> the thunderstorms are moving away, but we do have some scattered clouds out there right now. it is a little humid, of course, with the rain that is in the area.

temperatures, you're looking at them right now, in the 60s. 67 degrees in hydesville. we've even got 68 degrees over in annapolis, maryland, right now. there's that rain. hagerstown, frostburg. all this will stay to the north of us, so there's the chance that areas like frederick and mount erie could get more rain here. the 60s into the 70s by noontime. we'll tap out at a high temperature with rain back late. >> still checking the situation along university boulevard. here's the situation. if you're traveling eastbound, those travel lanes are open. welcome back university boulevard, those lanes are blocked at dennis avenue because of the accident involving a downed pole. let's head over to i-270. starting to see delays out of frederick. slow southbound all the way past 109. the good news is past clarksburg road, lanes open up and still

looking pretty good in germantown and rockville. no major delays just yet. let's head to the rails. brunswick east, six-minute. seven-minute on train number 8. back over to you. virginia will host both presidential candidates today. president obama and mitt romney will both be campaigning in the commonwealth today. they were both in another battleground state yesterday, ohio. tracy potts is live with more. >> reporter: ohio could turn out to be a problem for mitt romney. he's not doing well there, according to the latest poll. he is ten points behind president obama here, he's campaigning in ohio yesterday, going after working class families. no republican has ever won the presidency without winning ohio. romney told nbc in an interview, i am going to win ohio, and in campaign rallies, he said i care about the people of america. he's been trying to focus on

struggling families. meantime, president obama was going after the college crowd. today they are both in virginia, and both of these candidates focusing on the middle class. >> i don't know how many of you will be with me this time around -- [ cheers and applause ] but it doesn't matter because i'm running to be your president, to represent everybody. >> i think the president loves america. i love america. i think the president cares about the people of america. i care about the people in america. but i know how to help of america and make sure our future is bright and prosperous for our kids and protect liberty, and he does not! i know what it takes. >> moving forward to today, in virginia, they're in two different parts of the state. mitt romney is at the american legion in springfield in this area. the president will be down in virginia beach holding an outdoor rally there. it's worth mentioning, early voting starts in iowa today.

>> thank you. missouri senate candidate todd akin has new party support after a controversial comment nearly destroyed his campaign. rick santorum and jim demint both announced their endorsements. they call akin a principled conservative committed to fighting freedom. he said women's bodies can block a pregnancy after rape. he later said he misspoke and repeatedly apologized for that comment. ken cuccinelli approved a plan -- the state board approved the plan. they required existing clinics to have new architectural standards. opponents say forcing clinics to comply with costly renovations could put them out of business. the plan now goes to governor bob mcdonnell for further review. word of a family's murder-suicide in herndon is

taking an emotional toll on those who knew them. several friends, co-workers and classmates attended a memorial service at the family's church last night. police say 57-year-old albert peterson shot and killed his wife kathy and then shot and killed their two sons, christopher and matthew, before shooting himself. many said the sudden loss is hard to understand. >> i see them every day and they're gone. >> they don't have time to really think about it. it's something that you're forced to deal with. >> police are still trying to figure out what may have led to tuesday's murder-suicide. fairfax county will soon have a new police chief. its current chief is stepping down. he will become a deputy county executive for public safety. he's headed fairfax county's police department for eight years and that is the third longest tenure in the department's history. we're following some breaking news this morning. regular nfl referees are back on the job this morning. the league and the referee's

union reached a tentative deal on a new contract while you were sleeping. tony tull with more. >> reporter: nfl commissioner roger goodell announced late last night that the referee lockout has ended. nfl fans had enough this past monday with the last-second call that gave the seahawks a controversial win over the packers. following that game, commissioner goodell's phone number was tweeted out and over 70,000 voicemails were left at nfl offices. so all the credit has to go to the fans. commissioner goodell said "we look forward to having the finest officials in sports back on the field. and i want to give a special thanks to nfl fans for putting their passion in the game." officials at the university of virginia are calling for a recount after being named the top party school in the country. "playboy" magazine gave the

school the title. the rankings are based on three categories -- sports, sex, and night life. a school spokesperson tells nbc news the university would rather be recognized for their academic achievements. last month, "forbes" ranked uva the top public university in the country. >> does it sort of help to round out the picture, though? we noack demic standing is there. does it sort of help to complete the imagery? >> yeah, but from the school's standpoint, i don't think they want "playboy" magazine to call them out on being a party school. 5:37 is your time right now. new developments in the search for people who killed two teenagers in prince george's county. a fiery scene along a busy highway. and some scattered showers in the area this morning. just a sign of things to come later today? your forecast next with weather and traffi

beep-bop-boop-bop boop-beep. [monotone] she says, "switch to progressive and you could save hundreds." call or click today. some dramatic video of a truck exploding in washington state this morning. a road construction truck burst into flames while it was laying down adhesive last week. the truck was carrying a large propane tank. nobody was hurt, though. time for weather and traffic

on the 1s. we're starting off a little warmer once again and wonder what that means for the rest of the day. veronica johnson with our forecast. >> like yesterday, it's going to be a little toasty, back into the low 80s. wanted to show you radar. look at areas around 270. that's going to be sliding in around 640 or so back into frederick, maryland. bluemont, light shower. our temperature at 67 degrees. going up to a high today of 83 degrees. so again, a warm one with rain and thunder back after 5:00. >> still watching the situation along university boulevard. welcome back university boulevard, your right lane is blocked by the downed pole. let's head over to 295 as well as i-95 in maryland. both clear from the baltimore beltway to the capital beltway. making the trip on 50, you're clear as well.

as you make your way past 410 heading toward new york avenue, no accidents in either direction. back over to you. it's now 5:41. we've been bombarded with ads for both for and against a new casino in maryland. now we're getting our first look at what voters think. and talk about an amazing milestone. milestone. we'll introduce you to ae.

the middle class, who move our country forward. work hard. raise families. and keep america strong. but mitt romney's budget plan will hurt the middle class. raising taxes on the average family by up to $2000 dollars. while giving a tax break of $250,000 dollars to multi-millionaires.

doesn't mitt romney understand, we can't rebuild america...by tearing down the middle class. priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising.

you're watching news4 today. police say they are closer to making arrests in two separate cases of teens being killed this prince george's county. both murders happened just weeks apart. 17-year-old amber stanley was shot and killed by an intruder inside her home last month. then on september 11, someone killed 18-year-old markell ross while he was walking to school in capital heights on that day.

in a news4 exclusive, prince george's county police chief mark mcgaw says he's working to bring some sort of closure to both families. >> we're not quite sure what happened. we have a good working understanding. we don't have enough information to go out and say this is exactly what happened. the longer that goes, the harder it is on everyone. >> police have been holding public informational meetings near the murder scene in hopes of getting any information to solve the cases. two suspects are still on the loose after brutally attacking a man after a robbery at a d.c. sandwich shop. the three men tried to rob the store last night. during the attempted robbery, they pistol whipped an employee. the suspect's gun went off. no one was hit but the victim has serious injuries from the bo beating. police say they found the man who killed his girlfriend last week in florida. police say the man tried to commit suicide in miami by

jumping from a nine-story hotel room. a neighbor called 911 last saturday after hearing a fight. police arrived and found his girlfriend dead in a stairwell. he is in critical condition at a miami hospital. when he's released, police plan to extradite him back to montgomery county. marylanders may not be ready to put a casino in prince george's county. about 44% say they support expanded gambling in the state. about 46% oppose it and about 9% say they're still unsure. voters will decide in november whether to approve an expanded gambling bill, which the general assembly passed last month. supporters plan on holding a rally today at national harbor. it is a potential site for a prince george's county casino. kwame brown may have more legal troubles. he is due in court for a hearing on an unknown violation. the u.s. attorney's office is not giving a reason for the hearing. he pled guilty in june to bank

fraud. he face up to a year in prison. he'll be sentenced in november. this morning, firefighters are trying to figure out what sparked a large fire at an ocean city condo complex. pictures taken near the scene show thick black plumes of smoke coming from the community bradley on the bay. the fire destroyed three condo units. the families who lived there now have to find another place to stay. no word yet on what caused a driver to veer off the road and plow through a house. the couple was in that car when it went through dining room. they were not hurt. rescuers took the 70-year-old diver to the hospital. he is okay. the family is moving out until repairs are made. southeast washington will timely get a new development to replace the old skyland mall. it's being replaced by a huge 18-acre development which will include 500 housing units, retail shops and a walmart

store. mayor vincent grace says breaking ground on this development was a promise he made when he first came to office. >> bringing to fruition promises that we've made. we said when i came into office that we were going to try to move this forward, to get it done after 23 years and this is the beginning of the process. >> he says he and the city monitor the demolition and construction to make sure it stays on schedule. a local man is being honored for serving his country for the past 70 years. the 89-year-old started his career in 1942 as a radio inspector at the philadelphia navy yard. soon after, he joined the navy. in 1951, he made the jump, a civilian job, in the small business pam. he's been there ever since and he is now the associate director of small business at naval sea systems command. we asked him if he thought he'd ever reach this milestone. >> no, no, absolutely not. >> we're all glad you did. >> we didn't look forward to it any more than i'm looking forward to 110.

>> he is a dedicated hard worker. he had a heart attack and quadruple bypass last year. he was back in the office two months later. he says he has no plans to retire. >> he just comes from that generation where they know that hard work pays off and they just keep working until they can't anymore. remind me of my granddad. so it's nice to see that work ethic. >> 70 years of service. our hats off to him. congratulations. >> indeed. >> thank you, sir. all right. >> i'm sure he's got some stories to tell. >> tell us a story about this forecast today. >> nearly an adent caidentical n to what we had yesterday. the front is way north of us. we're seeing some showers come through area. we're going to get some more for the afternoon and evening hours. kind of same senator as what we had yesterday. let's check on the temperatures right now. germantown, maryland, up in montgomery county, up at 56

degrees. not too bad. one of the cooler spots in the area. point of rocks at 65. 63 in stafford, virginia. so like yesterday, you could probably get by with just a light jacket for the early part of the day, short sleeves for the afternoon. it is going to be plenty warm and feel more like late september. on storm team 4 radar right now, the heavier rain and even thunderstorms, those are sliding north and east out of our yea. then we've got some more showers. up around hagerstown, that will be making its way over areas of 70 and 270. martinsburg a little wet. frederick, leesburg, gaithersburg and mount airy heading over into areas like howard county and northern prince george's county. so here is the front. it's way north of us. we have a chance to get some more heavier rain in here late today. i think late afternoon after about 5:00 on through the evening hours, up until about midnight, even though storms will start to diminish. we may have some early morning showers tomorrow.

we get a break again. and then back to the possibility of more thunderstorms with that front actually coming through. but tomorrow i think it would be earlier than 5:00, probably around 2:00 or 3:00 for friday. here's a look at your forecast for today. w we're partly sunny. 30% chance of showers after about 5:00. isolated thunderstorms and that means we could have some gusty winds around the area. upper 60s to low 70s for your evening hours. here's a look at your four-day forecast. chance of rain again tomorrow. saturday we're dry. sunday could see a few afternoon evening showers. >> checking on university boulevard, if you're traveling on university boulevard heading westbound towards dennis avenue, here's a look, crews are working to restore the downed pole that's in the area. what's happening is that downed pole is blocking two of your right lanes. let's head to the sky and get a live look from chopper four right now.

you've got to stick to the left lane. the downed pole resulted from an earlier accident. looks like the accident is clear but crews are still working to get that pole off of the roadway. heading to the rails, mart not bad. nine-minute delay. metro vre aren't reporting delays. all are running on or close to schedule. over to you. >> thank you. record high atm fees may give you new reason to plan ahead when you need cash. bankrate.com compares surcharges annually. the average rate is at an all-time high of $2.50. fees got even higher when banks charged for using a competitor's machine. the rate now averages $1.57. 10%, 15%, even 20% may not be enough to leave for a tip at restaurants anymore. a story in "the new york post" suggests some manhattan waiters now expect more if they did a

good job serving you. a cornell university professor studied 9,000 credit card receipts from just one new york restaurant. he found more than 30% of customers left a tip of more than 20%. d.c. and prince george's county are working together to help people looking to buy a home. the city and county launched the city lift d.c. program yesterday. it gives qualified buyers up to $20,000 for a down payment. it also teaches people how to avoid foreclosure and other financial pitfalls. >> if we can provide a little extra boost to first-time home buyers or buyers that are ready to re-enter the housing market, we can create a new generation of homeowners and kick start the local housing markets. with interest rate at an all-time low like we're seeing right now, the fact is that affordability is at an all-time high. >> home buyers can attend an event next friday and saturday, october 5th and 6th at the washington convention center.

despite our tough economic times, some americans are feeling a little more financially secure. >> reporter: the well-off are feeling a bit better off. a new study by merrill lynch global worth management finds affluent americans feel more in control of their finances and are being less conservative with their investments. the study included people with at least $250,000 in investable assets. they say they're living more within their means and expect there will be likely more volatility in the markets due to a few things, the elections, the looming fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts next year, and uncertainty in europe. and bank of america is testing technology to let customers pay for items at the checkout counter by scanning a code on their smart phones. the test is currently being run in charlotte, north carolina, where bank of america is head

quartered. but for now, only bank employees have access to the program. the market has a huge potential. >> thank you. the clock is ticking on an unclaimed one million-dollar lottery price in virginia beach. the virginia lottery says the prize-winning ticket for the march 31st drawing will be worthless if the owner does not cash it in by 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. the ticket was sold at a food lion at virginia beach. if the deadline passes, the money will go to the literary fund and the literary fund has received more than $220 million in unclaimed prizes since the lottery began in 19 8. >> okay. i'll read this one, if you want to make a call. >> i don't know what happened. >> you just hit the speakerphone. >> all right.

some dads have spock pile f mugs and t-shirts declaring them to be theworld's best father. >> there's a guy taking that to heart. david started a collection of photos with his daughter alice. all of those photos show alice in precarious situations and they all have one thing in common. that coffee mug that says world's best father. he says almost all of these pictures are photoshoped. no worries, his daughter was never in any danger with these. and she looks like she's winning right there anyway. this collection of photos has gone viral. to see more of the pictures, stay tuned to nbc 4 here. he and his daughter alice will be on the "today" show this morning right here on nbc 4. flipping pancakes, apparently. >> those photos are so delightful. they just put a smile on your face. everyone's face. and it helps that she is just too cute, too. mcdonald's adding something to hundreds of restaurants that you can't eat, but you might like. and this morning an art group says it will prove a controversial claim why they say this mona lisa may not be one of

a kind. and some rain in the region. are

and now, from washington's leading news station this is news4 today. >> breaking news this morning.